A Pioneer Who Studied Gandhi – Benjamin Joffe-Walt and Jonathan Watts

Lu Banglie is not a household name in China. But for the growing pro-democracy movement, his role as a popularly elected village chief is a symbol of success after years of struggle for momentum. Mr Lu has spent most of his life like the majority of China’s 1.3 billion population: as a farmer eking out a living. He was born in Baoyuesi village in Hubei province, and lives with his elderly mother in a hut.